Stolen Quilts

NOTE: The need for photography and quilt appraisals is a neccesity.
Quilters today are shipping, exhibiting and lovingly offering quilts for
use, thus losing the ability to keep them 100% safe, even in our homes
and cars there is the threat of fire and burglary. Some of the quilts
listed here do not have photographs this will make their recovery
or monetary compensation (better than nothing) much more difficult. I
encourage you to photograph undocumented quilts ASAP and, if you plan
on shipping your quilt around the country and world, get a Quilt appraisal
done for the documentation you can use to add insurance riders for art
in your home. For additional information on the steps you can take to
help protect your quilts visit "Lost Quilt Come Home" website
http://www.lostquilt.com/

Added Oct 2009

Stolen Quilt:

A Storm at Sea quilt stolen in transit being shipped via UPS to Oklahoma
City, Sept 28, 2009. It is a Storm at Sea quilt that took 10 years to
complete with the focus fabric a turqoise background with geckos in shades
of greens, blues, purples and lavenders. Included in the missing package
6 yards of Minkee in white, pink and lavender.

If you have any information please contact Betty Young at email: jeanyoung01@bellsouth.net

Added Sept 2009

Stolen Quilt:

Sampler quilt was stolen from the student's laundry at the Emirates Academy
of Hospitality Management during August 2009. It is coloured in pinks
and greens and was a large single sized quilt.

I made a Noah's Ark quilt that was 44X60 from a kit purchased from
the Cottonwood shop in Charlottsville, VA. It had a black background
with a center panel of the Ark and six rows of animals leading to
it. All of the animals were outlined with machine trapunto and diagononal
lines 1/4" apart defined the trapunto. It was a gift for Good Samaritan
Presbyterian Church in Waldorf, MD, of which I am a member. It was
stolen from the wall of the sactuary sometime between the last week
of April and Mother's Day. It had a label which read, "Made with love
for all God's children at GSPC by Sandy Webb, Bel Alton, MD" I called
Cottonwood and was told the kit is no longer available. Although I
can't imagine who would steal a quilt from a church and then hang
it in their home, I've accepted that it had a different journey than
the one I planned. If you see it or if you know if there is anywhere
I can purchse the kit, I would love to hear from you.

Sandra Webb

wvumom@earthlink.net

Added May 2006

Missing Quilt:

ha’Ima shel ha’aretz/Earth Mother

Size: 55w x 52h

By Bonnie Askowitz Miami, FL 2005

This quilt was juried into a show at the Slocumb Gallery at East
Tennessee University in Johnson City, Tenn. It disappeared after having
been sent to me from a UPS store in Johnson City, TN on March 19,
2006. It was last tracked on March 21st, 2006 as having arrived in
Homestead, FL at the UPS hub. It has a label and a sleeve on the back.
I appreciate anything you can do to help me recover this quilt.

Please contact Bonnie Askowitz at: bonniebanks@bellsouth.net

Added May 2006

Stolen Quilt:

Large colorful lap size quilt stolen in Bakersfield, CA from a storage
locker. Done in bright colorful batiks. It is tied, not quilted. It
may have my name in the border and a date, but I'm not sure (Mary
Freeman 2003). This is not a fancy quilt, but it was a gift to a friend.

Please contact Mary Freeman at: mvfreeman@juno.com

Added March 2006

Stolen Quilt:

A quilted and appliqued Victorian house, quite spooky looking. Three
turrets, one with a whale-weathervane. A red-haired woman stands in
open arched doorway. ., The stormy night sky is made of blue and black
hand-dyed fabric, with bare tree branches and bats flying, sillouetted
against moon. Dark garden and graveyard in foreground with fence and
falling-apart gate. Cat sitting by gate. A This quilt is beautifully
detailed, made with hand-dyed and hand-painted fabrics, and lavish
stitchery and quilting. It is one-of-a-kind and totally unique.

Constructed in 1993, the quilt is very large, about the size of a
king bedspread, with 42 blocks (11" or 12") with blue sashing. It
is machine pieced with hand quilted interlocking circles in the sashing.
Each muslin block was designed by members of the Herman family in
a variety of techniques. Some blocks were embroidered; others painted
or photo transferred. A couple are even pieced. Notable blocks include
the following: an embroidered pheasant with the words "Herman Family
Reunion" A flying flag flanked by "Herman Family Reunion" and "A fun
time on the 4th" "Will the Circle be Unbroken" painted in a circle
a photo of Caroline and John Melvin Herman on their wedding date,
and another when they were older "In loving memory of Bobby Rush",
painted "We are Hermans, couldn't be prouder, if you can't hear us,
we'll yell a little louder!"

Please contact Andrea Chakravarti at: dhrubandi@cox.net

Added July 2005

Stolen Quilt:

Spring Ward created a Friendship Quilt for Jim Stone 12 years ago.
It was stolen from his ranch property about a year later, around 1995
in Madisonville, TX. It was navy blue in color with muslin squares
used for the centers. One of the squares said: "When you work
for the Lord the pay is small but the retirement benefits are out
of this world". We would love to return this quilt to his family
as a rememberence, for the years of service he offered as our bishop.

Please contact Peggy Welsh at:

Tel: 281-353-4542 e-mail: Peggy.Welsh@bakerhughes.com

Added May 2005

Stolen Quilt:

I was notified by UPS this morning that the box arrived in Philadelphia,
but the contents were missing. This quilt was commissioned for boys
at the Allegheny Friendship House in Philadelphia, PA. to help inspire
their interest in music and the arts. It was pieced by nine quilters
in McKinney, Texas, and I quilted it. It was entered in the MQS Show
two weeks ago and then shipped in a special box (it was rolled on
a tube 60" long). It was only insured for the show limit of $500 (without
an appraisal) but was worth considerably more. It was going to be
exhibited at a special show the end of the month and had won a ribbon
at the Dallas Quilt Show.

Please contact Sue Tennill at:

thequiltingroom@comcast.net

Added May 2005

Stolen Quilt:

Recently I was fortunate enough to be teaching workshops at the American
Quilter's Society Quilt Show in Paducah. After one of my workshops,
I noticed that one of my small quilts was missing. The quilt missing
is called Autumn's Glory and was made as a project for my new book,
Simple Thread Painting. The quilt depicts a fall scene with a fall
tree on the left side of the quilt, a barn on the right and a small
fence with "barbed wire" running from post to post in the foreground.
Hand made quilts are special to all of us and I would love to see
it make its way home. If anyone sees this quilt, I did not give it
to anyone nor was it bought in a silent auction. The quilt went missing
on April 22, 2005 in my classroom at Paducah, KY.

Please contact Nancy Prince at:

nancy@nancyprince.com

Added April 2005

I purchased these blocks on eBay a couple years ago or more while
living in California. They were mailed to me by priority mail from
southern California and never arrived.

Please contact Judy at:

judypete55@hotmail.com

Added February 2005

Stolen Quilt:

Stolen 2 weeks ago from my daughters house in Bonaire Ga. It was
a queen size SUN BONNET SUE quilt I hand appliquéd and gave
to my grand daughter this past Christmas. It was almost a year in
the making.

Please contact Linda Simms at:

Tel: 706-374-4281e-mail: wl123@ellijay.com

Added June 2004

Missing Cape:

Front

Side

Back

My cape, Mrs. Potter's Evening Cape has disappeared from the 2004
Machine Quilter's Showcase Quilt Show. Gail Broadwater, President
of the International Machine Quilter's Association has exhausted all
her leads in trying to find it and feels that it was taken either
by a hotel employee or someone that walked into the show.

Please contact Sue Smucker at:

ardensue@sssnet.com

Added March 2004

Lost Quilt:

My Grandmother, Mother, and I put together a ballerina quilt for
me when I went to college. The ballerinas are hand painted (by my
grandmother) and stitched around (some are machine stitched and some
are hand stitched). The border is medium blue. The bottom border is
extra wide and (left to right) says:

Cassie

Shelby

Sandy (or Cassandra?)

Grandmother

Mother

Granddaughter

It was not really a high quality job. This was just something I did
with Mother and Grandma Crocker. Now Grandma Crocker is gone. We can't
do anything together again.

The quilt was lost sometime between 1989- 1992 either in Lexington,
NC near Southmont or in Deep Gap, NC in Watauga County.

Please contact Cassandra Hicks at:

CHICKS@UNFORGETTABLE.COM

Added January 2004

SUCESS, this quilt has been recovered. Please go to http://www.lostquilt.com/
for additional information and some ideas for recovery, documentaion,
insurance, shipping and more!

Front

Back

I spent 3 1/2 years making this quilt for my niece. It was stolen
12/22/03 from the front porch of her sister's home in Oregon after
being left there by the UPS delivery person.

Machine stitched into the middle of the front of the quilt are the
words: for Amy. The back has a heart shaped label, machine stitched
to it, which says: Dear Amy, I began this quilt when you were buying
your first house, and included lots of dogs, cats, and butterflies.
Made especially for you by your ever-lovin' Aunt Kate.

Added October 2003

Lost Quilt:

Stolen from my parents house on 10/21/03
From: Chatfield, Minn.

This is one of the last quilts my Mom made before she died. Along
with a large collection of my father's guns. They wrapped the guns
up in this beautiful quilt.

I had it hanging out of my apartment window to freshen it and it
fell down. I looked out the window and saw it had landed below. By
the time I got downstairs it was stolen.

My grandmother helped me make this quilt. It was my first quilt.
It had pink flannel backing. The front was various shades of pink
pinwheels and white squares. The squares were tied in the middle with
pink wool. All the fabrics were from old clothes of my grandmother
and mother who have both died since then. I would dearly love to have
my quilt back. I went to all the apartments in the building at the
time but nobody admitted to taking it.

Contact via e-mail: dlcloutier@sasktel.net

Added August 2003

Lost Quilt: No Picture

Stolen from storage in Lexington, North Carolina in November 1988.
An antique pinwheel quilt with the name Susan Josephine Coker and
the date, October 12, 1861 or 2 embroidered on the front.

The quilt was white background with spiral pinwheels in orange, light
green and tan on the front. It was exquisitely and ornately hand quilted
and made in Alabama by my great-great grandmother.

A large number of other family heirlooms were stolen at the same
time. I would certainly give a reward to anyone who could locate this
museum-quality quilt.

Contact via e-mail: obxsusan@earthlink.net

Added March 2003

Lost Quilt: No Picture

In February, 2003 I donated a quilt to the Traverse City,
Michigan, Women's Resource Center Auction event. I made a "quilt for
a cure" quilt from the October issue of Fons and Porter.

It has the pink ribbon logo background fabric with heart blocks
made from shades of pink and a dark green irish chain block. The border
fabric is pink and white striped. The label on the back says "for
all women everywhere, 2003".

The quilt never made it to the auction. The quilt is valued at $500
and was supposed to be auctioned to raise money for the women's shelter.
Shame on the person who stole this quilt.

Please help me find it so that it can be used to raise money for
the needs of battered and homeless women in the Traverse City area.

Contact via e-mail: trachilla@hotmail.com

Added March 2003

Lost Quilt:

Memory Quilt

I made a memory quilt for my mother for Mother's Day this year. Ironically,
she and my sister, Pat, had planned a two-week trip to Texas to visit
many of the relatives and friends in the pictures. My Mom is 74-years-old
and it may have been her last trip down there. She was looking forward
to showing everyone and get their signatures on the heart label on
the back which already contained signatures of her five children,
5 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren.

Any help would greatly be appreciated.

Contact via e-mail: JDsebben@aol.com

Added February 2003

Lost Quilt: No Picture

Lost Grandmothers Flower GardenApproximate size: Double

Took three years to hand sew together 2800 pieces. The pattern is
done in different blue fabrics. Solid pieces surrounded by blue floral
materials. The fowers are solid coral and solid sage green. Last seen
at the USPO in Mexia, Texas (east Texas) as quilter was buying box
from USPO and packing handquilted quilt there at the USPO. Approx.
date lost - 1996. Once released at the USPO, the quilt was never seen
again.

It was insured, but not enough as I still had to pay the grandmotherly
lady that was so kind to hand quilt it for me. Three years of hand
piecing can never be replaced. This quilt can be identified as it
has my name machine monogrammed on the lower side in a peach/beige
color about 1-1 ˝” high in a script font.

If you ever see it please contact:

Linda Christiee-mail: lchristie@coatesenergy.com

Added November 2000 (No picture):
Size: Sort of a queen sized quilt and the blocks were pieces of fabric
from all the baby and toddler clothes I had made for my children.

Lost Quilt Story begins September, 1994: I was making the
quilt for my daughter and had hand-quilted about 1/3 of the total
area when my husband died and I had to move most of the household
into storage in Mountain View, CA. Later on I was surprised when the
manager and his wife, suddenly were not managing the premises any
more and there had been no explanation. I didn't think too much of
it and then I moved to Oregon to be near my children and once again
the household was put in storage in Portland for 7-8 months from June
1995 until March 1996 when I bought a house and moved in.

It was when I moved in that I discovered the quilt and some oriental
rugs and antique dressing table items of my grandmothers were missing.
It never occurred to me that anyone would steal a quilt that was not
very professionally done as it was my first attempt; so of course
I didn't photograph it.

The back was a navy blue cotton with little tiny white hearts all
over it. The back had been folded over to the front and was piped
in kelly green piping where it joined the front quilt blocks. I had
hand quilted about 1/3 of the total area in kelly green thread. The
fabric blocks are all fairly primary colors. There is not a complex
pattern of the blocks but there is a bright green fabric that I used
as the center block with other blocks of the same flowered green fabric
coming out in an "X" toward the four corners and in each corner there
was at least one block of the same flowered green fabric. Near one
corner I did place a bright yellow gold piece of plain fabric and
had embroidered To Ingrid and the date and I think, Love Mom. I can't
remember if I put her last name but it would have been "Ohlson".

Stolen from: P.A. Peterson Nursing Home in Rockford, Illinois
or laundry service near Maddison.

Picture on left is front and on right is the back of quilt.

This is a picture of a Quilt I made for my Dad while he was in P.A.
Peterson Nursing Home in Rockford, Illinois . The day he died
the Quilt was Stolen/and/or sent to a laundry somewhere near Madison,
Wisconson. They claimed they sent it back to the Nursing home,
which in fact, is not true. Either someone at the Nursing Home has
it, or someone at the laundry
place near Madison, or it was sent to another hospital and/or Nursing
home in the area and someone has it there. It has my label on the
back, name, city etc. There is no reason someone couldnt contact me.
It has been missing/stolen for one year. I want it back so much because
my Dad slept under it for 4 years at that Nursing home. Thanks so
much for your help.
Dian Moore
e-mail: "Dian
Moore" eless1@ix.netcom.comWebsite: http://home.netcom.com/~eless1/

Added September 2000: (no photo available)

In June of 1975, we moved from a rental house in Brent, AL back to
my home town of Birmingham, AL. Left behind when the truck got too
full was an old wooden trunk containing a quilt made for me from scraps
of my clothing, and my mother's aprons. Unfortunately, no photograph
exists, and I do not remember if it was labeled with the maker's name.
If so, all I remember of her name is "Mrs. Cruce", and the spelling
could have been "Cruse", or "Kruce", etc.

When my husband borrowed a truck months later to retrieve my belongings,
the trunk had disappeared. It also contained an old tin box of buttons
from my great-grandmother.

The pattern is an odd one, in that the sunbonnet does not completely
cover the little girl's face. I still have an apron made from one
of the fabrics, and there were a lot of feed sack fabrics used, because
that's what many of my clothes were made from. I am certain I would
remember some of the pieces. Any questions regarding the apron print,
or information of my quilt's whereabouts, would be appreciated.

This Quilt was stolen from the West Sound Quilter's Quilt Show on
Oct. 21, 1999. If you know of the whereabouts of this quilt please
contact or send it to Charol Riedel (Quilt Show Chairman) at 2411
S.E. VanSkiver Rd. Pt. Orchard, WN. 98367 or the quilt owner Helen
J. Baczynski at 1824 Panther Place North, Las Vegas, NV. 89031

Squares are finished 1" and are all of different fabrics. The
borders are black, however, each border side is also a different tone/tone
black print. It is machine quilted with gold metalic thread only on
the golden center section and also around the gold inner border.

It has a very distinctive label....there is a photo transfer of the
cover of the pattern that I designed. It has my company name on it,
Sew Dear. There are also 4 different "fabric cutout women"
joined together with hearts. Each of these are cut from the 4 generations
of fabrics. The names are also under each cutout ... Hermina Homister,
Hilda Gabe, Martha Drape and Deb Freesemann.

It was shipped from Waverly Ia to Centre Harbor NH. It was last scanned
in Chicago.

This quilt is very dear to me since it's an original design for which
I'm marketing a pattern, but more importantly it is a reflection of
the inner
connections between my family's generations. I would love to have
it returned....no questions asked.

This quilt was stolen September 15th from the Teamsters Hall, 5000
J St. SW, Cedar Rapids,
Iowa. It had been "checked in" for the Eastern Iowa Heirloom
Quilt Show the afternoon of the 15th and was stolen sometime that
evening. It was discovered to be missing the morning of September
16th when it couldn't be found for judging. For additional information
and to contact Lela, go to this website: http://members.aol.com/user196221/index.html

Shirley Sims reports the following bed size quilt created by her daugther
has been stolen.

Click Quilt for larger version

The
quilt was an offset log cabin. The light part has circles quilted
around the center of the flower. The plaid in the quilt has flies
on it. The quilt is orange, blue and cream on cream.

The
backing is unusual as it has plumbing fixtures on it. My husband is
a plumber and our daughter made this for him for Christmas last year.
The back has sinks, pipe wrenches, ells, a vise and several other
things pertaining to plumbing.

On
the back there is another block that she sewed on that says "For
My Daddy ----Jerry D. Sims, With All My Love (heart,heart,heart) Kristi
D. Sims-Kirkegard, Christmas 1998".

SUCESS,
this quilt has been located please go to http://www.lostquilt.com/
for additional information and some ideas for recovery, documentaion,
insurance, shipping and more!

Click on quilt for larger view (34k).

Maria Elkins writes:

My quilt, "First December in Ohio", is 40'' x 50'' and
is a life-size, realistic looking fireplace complete with photo-transfer
pictures of my daughters on the mantle and a life-size cat on the
hearth. This quilt was lost by UPS during the return shipment from
the June 1999, NQA show in Omaha, Nebraska. It was last scanned by
UPS in Cach, IL on July 6, 1999 and they have been unable to locate
it since.

Stolen Quilt: No picture: stolen on
7/28/99 from the Haverhill Fairgrounds in Haverhill NH.

Mary Schilke writes: I recently had the brainstorm to enter
a quilt in a local fair, sorry to say mine and four others were stolen.
... My quilt was a twin sized quilt done in Thimbleberry fabrics,
the center had bright yellow sashing that joined to make stars in
the Mary Ellen Hopkins technique. The first inner border was bright
yellow and I had machine quilted roses into it, the second border
was made of pieced scraps from the leftover center fabrics, it was
machine quilted with free form ivy leaves and the final border wasa
beige fabric machine quilted with sunflowers. In the outer border
is stiched my name and the title of the quilt In a starry garden.

Please contact me if you see it. The thief is believed to be from
Massachusettes and drives a silver pick up truck. This was my first
quilt done on my Gammill Quilting machine any info would be appreciated.
My name is on a label on the back too.

An aunt of mine, living between Uniontown and Hartville, Ohio (Stark
County, Akron-Canton area), borrowed another aunt's quilt frame and
stored it in her barn, from which it was stolen, along with a nickel
silver show saddle.

Although this happened over 25 years ago, the loss of this quilt
frame is still a huge heartbreak, as it was made for my Aunt Ida by
her dear father many years before, who died young. Aunt Ida is 93
years old now, and still grieves for this family treasure, as do others
in the family.

This handmade, one-of-a-kind quilt frame is made from a yellowish
wood, as I recall, and has a (two?) wooden ratchet(s) of the same
wood. I looks somewhat lightweight, and has folding X legs on each
end. The rails are hexagonal or perhaps octagonal. Whatever, the identifying
mark is the name "IDA" and a date on it, carved with a pocket
knife in square letters and numerals.

If anyone should know of such a quilt frame, I would be glad to supply
the year carved on it as positive proof of ownership. I would also
be willing to arrange for its purchase from the current owner, as
I'm sure that by this time whoever has it is unaware that it is stolen
merchandise.

All this happened a long time ago, but I have to try my best and
do what I can for Aunt Ida, and besides, stranger things have happened!

Border: 3 " lavender print border, then approx 12" off
white muslin, then another darker border..Then finished off with
a saw tooth border of all the fabrics used in the quilt.

Was signed on the back with the name --Marge Krumroy.

Back was off-white muslin.

If you know anything about the wherea abouts of this quilt, please
contact Marge at: MKrum56199@aol.com

Stolen Quilt:No
picture. This quilt "disappeared" from Gayle
DeForest mother's bed at Greenhaven Country Place, Sacramento, CA,
August, 1997. No Picture of quilt is available but identifyiing
features are:

Pattern: Drunkard Path --no outside borders

Fabric: 3 fabrics: background using muslin and Drunkard
Path are a solid Red and a Red with a slight white pattern

The quilt was entirely hand pieced and hand quilted, and
the edges were just turned in and slip-stitched.

Size: Twin size

IDENTIFY BY SIGNATURE: Emblazoned on the back in big black
letters Dorothy DeForest

Gayle DeForest
gdefore@pacbell.net

The following is written by Pat Lemmons:
On March 4th, 1998 I entered three quilts in a quilt show at
the Heritage Center in Abilene, Kansas. On March 16th a friend discovered
they were not in the show. No one knows when they disappeared!!! These
are three family heirlooms which are priceless to my family and any
help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

The three quilts are shown below:

FAMILY TREE QUILT  50TH ANNIVERSARY GIFT IN 1979

Blocks
are white and designs were done with fabric crayons by family members
except for the top two center blocks. The top two center blocks contain
two black silhouettes with the names "Floyd" and "Nellie"
in a red heart between. The dates of "1929" and "1979"
are shown. All blocks are signed and include birth dates. The bottom
right square is an outline of a childs hand, colored with many
colors and signed "KATHY". The quilt is tied with black
yarn and the back is a gold colored blanket

FAMILY HEIRLOOM QUILT

The
color is blue with white blocks. Hand embroidered bouquets tied with
blue bows. The backing matches the blue used in the top and the binding
has a point edge. The white blocks are old, made in the 1920s.
The blue fabric is new and the quilt is approximately 92" long
and 94" wide.

FRIENDSHIP QUILT

Except
for the center left and bottom right block the background of the blocks
is ecru (light beige). There are 20 blocks. On the top, the second
from the left is a tree with fourteen paper bags hanging in and three
bags hanging below the tree. The bottom right block includes the embroidered
words 381 Questers Pug Memories 4-H and PTA. Each block is bordered
with a multicolored fabric of mauve, sage green, brown and ecru. The
back matches the border fabric. The ecru heart is stitched on the
bottom right on the back of the quilt and signed by the quilters.
Approximate size, length 72", width 65"When these quilts
were entered in the show the history of each quilt and my name were
on a computer print out attached to quilt. These are family heirlooms
and the loss has reached right into my heart. Any help you can provide
would be welcome.

If you have information on where the above 3 quilts are, please
contact: